Why Me?
by Katelyn Goode
Summary: Laurel Jeffery always thought she was just a normal sixteen-year-old. Doctors for parents, three older siblings, a disfunctional family  But who's isn't? . What more could she want? So why is this annoying middle schooler trying to tell her different?
1. Chapter 1

**Sweet, my first Percy Jackson Fic. FYI I'm still reading The Lost Hero (Finally) so I don't have all the secrets yet and Jason, Piper, and Leo wont be in it for a while.**

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan's, not mine.**

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><p>"Laurel! Come on! We're hungry!" Lisa yelled from the shore.<p>

"Laurel! We're gonna meet up with Brad and the guys soon, we gotta GO!" this time it was Kayla who yelled.

I sighed and paddled my surfboard to the shore. Lisa, Kayla, Jackie, and Kelly all stood there in the tiny bit of material they call bikinis and scowled at me. "What?" I wrung out my hair and started to gather my stuff.

"Nothing." Kelly said brusquely, flipping her dry (dyed) blonde hair over her shoulder. I gave Jackie a look and she just shrugged and gave me a sympathetic smile as she turned and made her way to my Jeep. I pulled my pink tank top on and stuffed my rash guard in my bag. I grabbed my board and bag after I pulled my board shorts on. The girls got in the back of the Jeep while I strapped my 6'4" _Surf Betty_ to the racks on the roof. I didn't like Kelly really. She was Lisa's friend and I only tolerate her because Lisa and I are such good friends.

"You okay?" Jackie asked as I hopped down.

"Yeah. Why?"

She frowned. "Cause your eyes are like _extra_ blue and they only get like that when you're miffed about something." She pulled her dark brown, almost black, hair out of its pony and stared at me, concern in her eyes.

I threw my bag in the back after wiping the sand off of my feet and grabbing my flip-flops. "Really? I couldn't tell." It was sarcastic and Jackie knew it. I regretted it once her stormy gray eyes lit up. "Sorry." She ignored me and shut the trunk door and silenced the talkative girls in the back.

"Look. I know you don't like Kelly. Trust me, I don't like her any more than you do, so let's just put up with her for the last two weeks of school, then we're free." She held out her pinky. "Promise not to rip her to bits _just_ yet." The old grin was back on her face. Ever since her dad made her go to summer camp she's been less and less happy and it was rare to see her smile like she did when we were in middle school.

I cracked a smile and wrapped my pinky around hers. "Promise." We both climbed into the front seats and made our way to Simply Delicious, this beach shack kinda place here in Cocoa Beach. It was small and bustling. We parked in the back and made our way to the front. "Guys!" Kayla squealed as she ran over to the guys' table out on the porch area. There was only one other family there. A large one at that.

"Sup chicas?" Mark asked as we all sat around the table. I squeezed myself to the end by the far wall while Jackie took the seat on my right, her back to the family.

"Nuttin' much. Just hangin'." Kelly batted her eyes at Mark and Brad. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her.

"Skank." I muttered under my breath.

Kelly whipped her head in my direction. "What was that, Laurel?" she asked in her sweetest voice, her face stretching almost painfully in a forced smile.

Now I was trying _not_ to smile. "Nothing. Kelly you must be hearing things." I shot back at her with my own sarcastically sweet tone. I held on to my Miss America smile until she went back to trying to get in Mark's pants. "Hoe bag." I felt someone give me a swift kick in the shin. Jackie gave me a glare that read, "Behave."

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><p>"Sooo. What's everyone getting?" Dylan asked, as we sat around after eating.<p>

Kayla grabbed her phone and started typing something before standing. "Sorry, but my ride is here." She got up and left. Kelly followed but not before slipping me a glare. She also ended up "tripping" and falling into the lap of the blonde seventeen-year-old with the other family. "Sorry. I'm a little clumsy." She giggled and "discreetly" slipped him her number before walking to the car where Kayla and her mom were waiting.

"Bye guys. I'll see ya at school." Lisa waved as she left with Kayla and Kelly, her natural blonde hair glowing in the sunlight.

"Man I'm not getting any dessert, but I gotta take a piss." Brad declared as he got up and left for the restroom.

A collective amount of disapproving statements left my and Jackie's mouths. Mark stood up too. "_Man_, now I have to go." He whined and followed Brad.

"Thank God." Dylan said.

I leaned back in my chair. "So what are you guys doing this summer?"

Jackie shrugged and copied me. "Summer camp. _Again_." I grimaced.

"I'm going up North again to spend the summer with my dad." Dylan shrugged nonchalantly.

"Does he know?" I asked.

"That I'm going up there? Yeah, I'm pretty sure he knows." He replied sarcastically.

I glowered at him. "That's not what I meant."

"What, that I'm playing for the other team?" he smirked.

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Yes, sweets. _That_."

He snorted. "Please, he's way too busy tearing down land and building useless buildings before he realizes that his oldest son is gay… my sister on the other hand saw right through me when I saw her a while ago." He frowned. He glanced at his phone before smiling and standing. "Anyway, I gotta go and finish packing. I'm leaving the day after exams end, so…"

Jackie and I stood up too. "Yeah. We gotta head back too." Jackie and I both hugged him before going inside to pay. "So are you going to tell him when you get up there?"

Dylan shrugged as he paid for his meal, along with Brad and Mark's. "I don't know. Maybe. It's hard enough with my fire breathing step-mom."

"I wish I could tell you how it feels, but my dad has claimed to be a perpetual bachelor." Jackie said with a rueful smile on her face. She paid and we both said goodbye to Dylan as he dragged Mark and Brad out. "What are we going to do with them?"

I shrugged and grabbed my wallet from my bag. "Hell if I know." I took the cash I had out of my wallet but all I could find were the four singles I had in there. "What the-" I looked in the other pockets for my twenty. "Where the hell is my twenty?"

Jackie's brow furrowed. "You didn't bring enough money?"

I shook my head in disbelief. "I _did_. Until Kelly took it!" I was seriously pissed by this point.

"What do you mean she took it?"

I threw my arms down to my sides, my shoulders slumped. "She had to have taken it when we were talking outside the Jeep… I mean, who_ does_ that?" I tried looking for it in my bag, with no luck. I had no choice now. "Jacks, can I borrow ten bucks?" I was pissed but getting mad wouldn't do me any good.

Jackie shook her head. "Sorry, I only brought enough for me."

"Fuck my life." I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut.

"Here. I'll pay." I opened my eyes, seeing the friendly face of the blonde that Kelly had "tripped" into.

"Uhhh,"

He held up a hand. "No, it's fine. You were nicer than your blonde friend."

I pursed my lips. "She's not my friend." I said bitterly. "But thank you anyway." I turned my attention to Jackie, who was almost standing awkwardly next to the blonde's siblings. "This is the reason I didn't want her in my car!"

"Alex! Just pay and let's go." His brother said, frowning at Alex.

Alex gave him a lazy smile. "Calm down, Aaron." He paid for his family and we walked out together. He had handed the cashier some strange money, like golden coins or something, but she just took them with a smile. Probably Canadians. "Sorry. My brother is impatient."

"Nah. It's fine." I brushed it off. "So which one's yours?" I asked, pointing to the cars.

"The red one." I almost stopped when he pointed to the red BMW convertible right next to my Jeep. "You?"

"Umm," I rubbed the back of my head. "The, uh, Jeep." I tried to hide my face because it was a new Wrangler that my dad had gotten me when I got my license. It was fresh off the showroom floor six months ago. He nodded his head in approval. "Hey, Jacks, help me get the back off." She hopped up on the side after I unlocked the doors, ready to get my board off so we could take the back off and make it a convertible.

"Here, we'll help." Alex hopped on the other side of the Jeep. "Hey, Uncle Pete! Come grab this girl's board."

His uncle came over and took my board after Alex and I got it unstrapped, his other brother taking Jackie's place. "This is a good board. Sturdy." His uncle commented as he turned it on his foot, making sure it didn't touch the ground.

"Thanks. NSP makes great boards." Alex and his brother, Hunter, helped me get the back off and folded up. When Jackie put it away we strapped my surfboard back on the top. "Thanks, really."

Alex shrugged. "It's no problem."

"No. Really. And I'm doing you a favor by telling you to burn that number you got from that girl." I pointed to his pocket. "Cause trust me, she's been with more guys than you have bones in your body."

"Oh. This." He laughed and crumpled it. "I was planning on burning it anyway. She's not really my type."

"Hold on." I grabbed my camera from under the seat. "Do you mind if I take a picture of you and your family? I have this thing with interesting people."

He grinned. "No problem." He talked to his mom, who excitedly agreed.

They all posed for a group photo and let me take a couple with just the kids and then the adults. The whole time Jackie was behind me, practically biting her nails.

We both said our goodbyes and got in our respected cars, one of his sisters (Amanda, I think), Aaron and Hunter got in his car. When I turned on my Jeep, Jackie started my CD player and "Blah, Blah, Blah" blared through my speakers. I looked over at her and started laughing. She shrugged and started singing along. "Coming out your mouth with your blah, blah, blah, just zip you lips like a padlock and meet me in the back with the Jack and the jukebox!" I turned on the radio before we could get too into it. "Hey!"

I laughed and tuned into another Ke$ha song. "Take It Off" started to blare through my speakers instead. "Better." I pulled out and waved to Alex and his family before heading back home.

"So are you sure you have to go to summer camp?" I yelled over the music.

I saw Jackie nod out of the corner of my eye. "Yeah. No way out of it." She gave off the body language that she didn't want to talk about it. She never did anymore. It's like I didn't even know my best friend anymore.

I stopped at the red light and looked over at her, keeping my eyes on the light. "Jacks, I-" she furrowed her brow and looked past me.

Turning around, I saw the red BMW again, honking at me. "Surfer-girl. We meet again." Alex grinned from behind his Ray Ban's.

I waved at him. "Laurel, please do not get involved with those people." I heard Jackie whisper from the passenger seat.

I turned back to her. "Jacks, they're just nice people." Jackie just shook her head and tried to hide her face from Amanda, who for some reason was watching her intently.

I glanced at the still red light and looked back at Alex. "Surfer-girl, I never got your name."

I glanced at the light as it changed to green then glanced at Alex. "Laurel." I called and drove away, his car turning.

Jackie sighed.

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><p><strong>Yay! That's chapter one. We'll see more of the demigodness in the next few chapters.<strong>

**Love ya,**

**Katelyn Goode**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sweet! Number two! We're getting closer to camp!**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

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><p>Laurel POV<p>

"Morning, Mom," I greeted as I walked past her to the fridge.

"Good morning, sweetheart." She smiled up at me and went back to reading her newspaper, sipping her coffee.

"Morning, Daddy." I hugged my dad, who grunted in response and studied his paperwork. I sat down at the breakfast nook and ate my own cereal and coffee. "Are you both working today?"

Mom nodded. "We'll be home about five." I nodded. Dad started talking to Mom about some doctor business, leaving me to my thoughts. I was in the middle of mentally going through my Orchestra final when Mom tapped me on the shoulder. "Are you staying after school to take a couple photos?"

I blinked a couple times. "Uh, yeah. I wanted to get some scenery pictures for my scrapbook."

Dad nodded. "I have no problem with it. Just be home before dark." He switched his work papers for the newspaper.

I nodded and drank the last of my coffee. "Okay. Thanks." I kissed Dad on the cheek and hugged my mom. "I'll probably be home around six or six-thirty." I said as I grabbed my backpack and keys.

"Let your dog out first!" Mom called. I looked at my feet to see my Golden Retriever, Max, staring up at me with his puppy eyes. I smiled down at him and quickly took him to the backdoor to let him out.

I was about to walk out the door when a hand grabbed my upper arm. "Hold it, young lady." Dad said and grabbed my head, moving my hair. "What is in your ear?" he asked poking my panda tapers. "Are those _gauges_?" he asked in disgust.

I swatted his hand away. "Chill, Dad. They're fake." He let me go so I could undo them and show him. "See?"

He frowned. "Okay… As long as they're fake, I guess it's okay."

I smiled. "It's okay, Daddy." I kissed him on the cheek and he patted my brown head. He went back to the breakfast nook and I checked myself real quick in the hallway mirror. Gray and navy blue tank top, bleach splattered skinny jeans, purple Vans, silver guitar pick necklace that Dad had "ROCK MY WORLD" engraved on it for my fourteenth birthday, my music charm bracelet, and a studded bracelet. I fluffed my hair, causing my charm bracelet to jingle, and fixed my bangs before slinging my backpack over my shoulder and heading out to the Jeep. Even at eight in the morning, you could still feel the humidity of Florida.

I started the Jeep and cringed when "Whip My Hair" blasted its chorus in my ears. I quickly changed it. "God that song sucks." I turned down the volume and drove to school, taking my normal route to Jackie's first. I switched it to my _Avenged Sevenfold_ CD that Jackie had gotten me for Christmas and sat there listening to "Welcome To The Family" as she locked up, her dad no doubt dead to the world in his room. My dad had helped me put the cover back on my Jeep when I got home yesterday so I didn't bother rolling the windows down to yell at her to hurry up. "Sup, girl?"

She shrugged, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. "I only had four hours of sleep thanks to Mr. Holloway's essay on the Civil War," she grumbled.

"The North won that, didn't they?" she shot me a glare. I bit back a smile. "I'm kidding." She was still unhappy. I reached over to her and squeezed her cheeks, keeping an eye on the road. "Oh, come on, Jacks. _Smile_!" I demonstrated by giving her one of my big toothy grins.

She crossed her arms, my hand still squeezing her face. "You scware mwe swometwimes, Lauwrel." I laughed and let go of her face. She stretched out her jaw and glowered at the road. "Let's just not get killed on the way to school."

I saluted her. "Aye, aye, Captain." Even as I drove, I saw her crack a smile out of the corner of my eye.

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><p>Jackie and I walked to third period and practically had a heart attack when Mr. Price popped from behind the door in an Ancient Greek theatre mask. "Welcome fair maidens." He bowed grandly. "Pray tell, are you of Spartan," he pounded his fist to his chest in a salute and stood up straighter like a soldier would to his commanding officer, "or Athenian," he slouched a smidge and pretended to correct his glasses and 'open' a book, "Origin." His eyes widened as Jackie and I looked at each other, smirks on our faces. Mr. Price took a defensive position, leaning away from us. "Or are you two Trojan decoys sent to distract our guards with your beauty?" he demanded, holding out an invisible sword.<p>

"Hi Mr. Price," Jackie said, smirking.

Our teacher quirked a brow. "Price? What price? The price at which you will surrender?"

I rolled my eyes and got on my knees, playing along. "Forgive us lieutenant. We come from the island of Crete and do not understand your customs. We are just handmaidens to our Lady Ariadne." I did the whole bowing at his feet thing.

Mr. Price relaxed and stood like a normal human. "That shall do… now get up Miss Jeffery and take your seat, you too Miss Anderson." Jackie gave him a courtesy bow and followed me to our seats.

I sighed happily. "Gotta love Price. He at least makes learning Ancient Mythology interesting." Jackie agreed but started pouting as she flipped through the book in the Ancient Greek Mythology Unit that we've been on for the last month and a half. She always grumbled about it but never told me why she found the stories stupid.

I was balancing my pencil on my upper lip when the late bell rang. Mr. Price closed the door and walked into the center of the desks set up in a circle so everyone could participate and talk with one another. He took off his mask to reveal his salt and pepper hair and bright blue eyes. "Man, it's hot under there."

"That's what she said," whispered Michael Dilancy from four desks down. His friend, Steven, fist pounded with him and snickered.

"Anyway," Price shot a warning look at the two morons, "If someone can enlighten me on what your homework was over the weekend…" Jackie raised her hand. "Yes, Athena."

Mr. Price had been calling all of us by names from Greek Mythology all year, and seeing as Jackie and Athena both have gray eyes (And are bookworms), he started calling her Athena. She usually would complain about it if some other teacher would call her anything but Jackie, so it was a shock when she didn't rip Mr. Price a new one when he named her as the Athena of the class. "You had us read about the god of wine- Dionysus."

Price nodded. "Exactly. The god of vegetation and wine- not to be confused with Demeter, goddess of agriculture and the harvest. _But_!" He thrusted his finger into the air, causing his five-minute toga to fall off the one shoulder it was on. "Oh! Pardon my nudity." He adjusted his toga over his baby blue button down shirt. A few of my classmates giggled- along with me. "Anyway, Dionysus was also the god of ecstasy and madness. He was the son of Zeus! _King_ of the gods!" Mr. Price drew his imaginary sword and lunged to a sleeping Derek and smacked his desk on King. Derek's jolted reaction caused the whole class to erupt in laughter. "And maybe the all mighty Zeus will do me a favor and zap the next person who sleeps in my class with his master bolt." He gave Derek a pointed scowl as he wiped drool from his chin and brushed off his notebook.

"Nimrod," Jackie muttered under her breath. I bit my lips to keep from laughing.

"Now," Mr. Price went on, "His father was Zeus. So who knows who his mother was?" Jackie's hand flew up. "Other than our Athena." Jacks frowned and slowly lowered her hand.

"Wasn't her name Smelly or something?" Brianna (Our Aphrodite) asked, looking up from filing her nails.

"Or something," Mr. Price said. "No one? Come on people, what was so important about Dionysus' mother?"

I bit my lip. I hated to admit that I was bored last night, so I spent about three hours online looking up stuff about the Greek Gods and their myths.

Jackie nudged me with her elbow. "Come on, you know this," she whispered.

I bit my lip harder. "No one?" Mr. Price sighed. "Well then, seeing as no one really bothered to do the reading, if someone can come up with the answer- aside from Miss Anderson- then I wont give you anymore homework for the rest of the year." He walked over to his desk and sat on the end, crossing his ankles. He casually grabbed an apple and bit into it, the crispy noise splitting through the classroom. He took a few slow chews. "Anyone?" he asked again, challenging us. "And no using your textbook, Hermes." James McInnis kicked his textbook away from where he was trying to discreetly peek at it. He was unanimously nominated our class's Hermes because he always tried to take things that weren't his and then claiming that he had always carried a Chanel clutch with him. I know this because he had tried to take my brand new _Powder Puff Girls_ lunchbox in second grade and had gotten a bloody nose and black eye for it. "Last call." Price threatened.

I looked over to Jackie to see her pleading with me. I turned back toward Mr. Price and hesitantly raised my hand. He saw me out of the corner of his eye and smiled. "Yes, Artemis?" he asked, a kind smile on his face.

"Umm…" I glanced at Jackie again. She gave me a thumbs up. "Her name was Semele for one, and… uh, sh-she was significant because she was mortal."

Mr. Price smiled. "And?"

I shifted awkwardly in my seat as every eye in the class locked onto me, waiting for me to issue us a promise of no homework. "And this made Hera jealous when she found out that she was pregnant with Zeus' child, so Hera disguised herself as a nurse and messed with Semele's mind by making her question if it really was Zeus. So Hera made Zeus swear on the River Styx so when Semele asked for him to show her his true form, he had to comply."

He nodded. "_And_?"

I took a deep breath and trudged on with a stronger voice. "Well, she turned to ash. And in doing so, Zeus took Dionysus from his mother's ashes and had him sewed into his thigh so that he could continue to grow." A few of the girls reacted with the typical 'Ewwwww's, "So he's technically the only god that was really born a half-blood."

Mr. Price nodded, a proud smile plastered on his face. "Yes. And thank you for the correct pronunciation of Semele." He shot Brianna a look. "And how did he get to be on the Olympic council if there were no seats for him?"

"Did he have to battle someone for it? Like a dance battle?" Lannie asked with her posse around her.

Price bit back a smile. "No, not quite. Anyone know this one? Anyone can answer, Miss Jeffery has just awarded your class with no homework for the last two weeks of school."

There were whoops and hollers but no one answered. Mr. Price sighed. "Athena?" he asked in exasperation.

Jackie cleared her throat. "He was given the throne. Hestia gave up her spot on the council to keep the peace between the gods since she is known for being warm and kindhearted like her title as the goddess of the hearth and home. This also caused the council to tip toward the men since the male to female ratio was changed."

"Correct a mundo, Athena!" Mr. Price announced.

We went through the rest of class talking about Dionysus and his life along with how he got his wife, Ariadne, who was the daughter of King Minos. He told us of how Ariadne had helped Theseus escape the Labyrinth and how they left Crete together. On the way, Theseus had gotten tired of Ariadne so they stopped on the island of Naxos and in the middle of the night, while Ariadne was sleeping, Theseus left the island with his crew and left Ariadne there. Of course when she woke, she was heartbroken. That's when Dionysus found her. He had healed her broken heart and married her.

But that wasn't the end of it.

For his act, Theseus was cursed by the gods to forget to put the white sails up instead of the black ones so that when he returned to Athens his father would know if he was dead or not. In a state of despair by the black sails (showing that Theseus had been killed) he threw himself into the sea, and that's how we got the Aegean Sea. So much for rationality.

"He totally deserved it." I said as Jackie and I walked to lunch after Mr. Price's class.

Jacks shrugged. "He was a son of Poseidon; arrogant and quick to toss you aside after they got what they wanted." Jackie said bitterly.

Her gray eyes narrowed. If her eyes could talk, they'd being using a very choice form of speech. "Jeez, Jacks, it's just a story… plus I thought his dad was that Aegeus dude."

Jackie sighed. "He was. And so was Poseidon. Theseus' mother, Aethra, slept with both men in the same night."

I scrunched up my face. "Is that even possible? To have two dads?"

Jackie shrugged. "Who knows? Weird shit happens all the time."

I stopped walking. "Damn it! I forgot my binder back in Price's room. I gotta go back. I'll meet you in the cafeteria." I called as I backed up in the crowded hallway. I could barely hear her say "Okay" as I retraced my steps to Mr. Price's room. The hall was empty by the time I got back to the room.

"I know you're worried but summer's coming up." That was Mr. Price's voice.

I stopped outside his doorway and listened.

Yeah, I was eavesdropping! _Bite me_!

"I know. That's why I'm freaking out. I haven't found them yet!" Someone else said. A girl. I leaned closer to the doorway. "I can't go back until I have them either. I have direct orders to stay until I find them and do you know how hard it is to find a de-"

"_Sh_!" Mr. Price shushed her.

"Bu-"

"SHH!" there was a pause.

I stood outside the door, trying to keep my breathing even as the silence increased- and my heart pounding in my ears did _not_ help what so ever! "I know you're there." He called.

I bit my lips. _Fuck._ So, swallowing my pride, I took a deep breath and walked into the room that I had been in not five minutes ago. Mr. Price's face would have been… well, priceless if he hadn't been completely shocked at catching _me_ eavesdropping. "Hi Mr. P." I greeted meekly, trying to easy the tension.

He didn't look amused. He looked almost hurt. "Laurel, you of all people I would have never pegged for eavesdropping."

I automatically went to my defense. "I was only there for like, half a minute! I swear! I just didn't want to be rude and interrupt your conversation with…" I looked at the girl sitting on his stool and couldn't think of a name. She was some middle schooler with curly brown hair and always wore hoodies and huge jeans. She had just transferred from up North if I remember the conversation Dylan had with us at the beginning of the year.

She was staring at me- like almost creeper status staring!- and it seemed like she was sniffing the air around her. "Sage!" Mr. Price said firmly, shaking her shoulder.

It was like she was coming back from another world. "Oh… sorry, I- uh, got distracted." She rubbed her head and looked back at me with her big brown eyes. "I-I'm Sage Cedar." She held out her hand to shake. I took it awkwardly.

"Laurel."

Her eyes widened and her mouth opened to say something before Mr. Price cut her off. "Is there something you needed, Laurel?"

I was shocked by his abruptness and almost impatient behavior. "Umm…" _Why was I here again? Oh, yeah! My binder._ "I forgot my binder."

"Well, then you can get it and go to lunch." He said it dismissively and I quickly obliged. I was about to walk out the door when I stopped.

I contemplated my next move, but then thought, _Ah, fuck it!_

"Mr. Price?" he turned back to me. I pulled out my camera. "Do you mind if I take a picture of you in your toga? And the mask. It's for my scrapbook."

He looked at me and my camera, still having a disappointed look in his eyes. After what felt like hours, he sighed and said, "Okay… just make sure to get my good side," he added, finally cracking a smile again. I snapped a few different shots and said my thanks before I left for the rest of lunch.

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><p><strong>Yay, number 2 is done!<strong>

**Remember to review and check out all outfits/banners on my profile which has a link to my Poyvore account.**

**Love ya,**

**Katelyn Goode**


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